Eeek frees



(No Model.)

L. o. P. PRBES. NEOKTIE FASTENER.

om 8 8 1 7 1 W u J a d e t n MW e t a P 3 S 6 E I o W/Nd/K N 6% LOUIS CHARLES FREDEREK FREES, OF NE\V YORK, N. Y.

NECKTlE-FASTENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 386,396, dated July 17, 1888.

Application filed April 27, 1858.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LOUIS CHARLES FRED- EREK Fnnns, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in NecktieFasteners; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which Figure l is a perspective view of my improved fastener as made from wire. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same as made from thin sheet metal. Fig. 3 is a plan of the wire blank used in constructing the fastener shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a plan of the sheet-metal blank used in constructing the fastener shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 5,il1ustrates the manner of attaching the fastener, whether made from wire or from sheet metal, to the'front part or shield of the bow or necktie to which it is applied, and Fig. 6 is a perspective rear view of a tie provided with my improved fastener.

Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures.

This invention has relation to fasteners or retaining-hooks for neck-wear; and it consists in certain improvements upon my Letters Patent No. 282,976, dated August 14, 1883, and No. 307,286, dated October 28, 1884, whereby the invention described and claimed in the aforementioned patents is improved in two important particulars, viz: First, the fastening device may be attached permanently to the necktie without pointed fastening-pins and without sewing; and, secondly, the shape of the exposed part of the device is such that it will more readily grasp the shank of the collarbutton than in the form in which it has been shown and described in my two former patents, hereinbefore referred to. In each of said patents the device for clasping the shank of the button is U-shaped, and unless the diameter of the shank happens to be the same as the distance between the wires or arms of the U the shank would have more or less play,whieh of course is objectionable, and which it is the object of this invention to overcome by mak- Serial No. 272.051. (No model.)

ing the arms of the device V-shaped, which will clasp a shank of any size from that of a diameter equal to the greatest distance from the arms at the top of the V to the very smallest. In other patents an enlarged or bulged portion has been made in the arms, in which the shank rests after it has been forced in between the ends of arms; but as the diameter of the shank must be equal to the diameter of this enlargement to prevent the shank from having more or less play, which very rarely happens, these devices are open to the same objections as noted against my own.

The nature of these improvements will be readily understood by the following description, taken in connection with the drawings, in which The letter A designates the bow or front part of a necktie of any desired shape or pattern.

B is my improved fastener, which may either be made of wire, as in Figs. 1 and 3, or of thin sheet metal, as in Figs. 2 and L. \Vhen made of wire, I construct the device by cutting the wire, which should be of brass or other suitable ductile metal, into proper length, and then bending the same so as to form a blank of the shape shown in Fig. 3-that is to say, the wire is first bent in the middle to form an oblong loop, 0, contracted at its upper end, as shown at D. About the point of contraction the wire blank is again bent outwardly, causing its ends to flare or diverge from each other, as shown at E,after which the wire is doubled upon itself, as shown at F, its lower ends being continued some distance below the loop or enlargement O, forming downwardly-projecting legs G G.

If it is desired to use sheet metal instead of wire, a thin plate of the metal is cut by suitable dies into the shape shown in Fig. 4, which, it will be seen, corresponds in all essentials with the wire blank shown in Fig. 3. Like the latter, the wire blank has an enlargement or loop, 0, and contracted part D, flaring ends F F, and downwardly-projecting legs G G. It is therefore entirely optional with the manufacturer whether he will use wire or sheet metal in the construction of my device, one being an equivalent for the other and selected simply with a view to economy and convenience. After this blank has been prepared it is bent into the shape shown in Figs. 1 and 2,

respectively-that is to say, the blank is doubled upon itself at the narrow part or point of contraction designated by the letter D, and the projecting parts or legs G G are bent backwardly below the loop 0. When bent into this shape, the legs G G will be approximately parallel to the loop 0 and project slightly below the bends or doubled parts H H.

The manner of applying this fastener to a necktie will readily be understood by reference to Fig. 5, from which it will be seen that it is simply slipped over the center piece of the bow and held in place without any sewing, it being covered and held in place by the backband of the bow, as shown in Fig. 6. In constructing the bow or tie a band (designated by the letter I in Fig. 6) overlaps the center piece of the bow, and also the upper part of the fastener, concealing the entire fastener from view, with the exception of the V-shaped diverging books or prongs J J, the shape of which is such that they will readily straddle the shank of the collar-button on opposite sides, and thereby prevent the tie from rising upon the collar, at the same time preventing lateral displacement of the bow or scarf.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- The herein-described necktie-fastener, formed from a single thickness of wire or strip of sheet metal, having a central pear-shaped loop contracted at one end so as to form V-shaped or diverging prongs, which said prongs are bent approximately parallel to the loop, and having thedownwardly-projectingprongsGGadapted to overlap the center piece of the tie and bear against the back part of the same, substantially as and for the purpose herein shown and described. v

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereunto affixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LOUIS CHARLES FREDEREK FREES.

Witnesses:

L. CHRISTENSEN, J OHN RUBIN. 

